The Visitor
by CavanaughCSI3
Summary: Sara gets an unexpected visitor during her shift.


I don't own anything having to do with CSI…dang it.

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**The Visitor

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**

Sara walked into the lab for the first time in four months, well, not quite. It was the first time in four months that she was here to work a shift. Rounding the corner on her way to the break room, she ran into Warrick.

"Hey you! Aren't you sight for sore eyes! How you feeling girl?" He pulled her into a hug.

She smiled as he released her, "I am great. It feels a little weird to be back, but I am great."

"Glad to hear it! Welcome back!"

Sara continued on to the break room where she found Catherine. She immediately jumped up from her seat when Sara walked into the room. "Sara! It's great to see you! You look fabulous! How are you?"

Sara smiled as Catherine hugged her; it was nice to know that she had been missed. "I am great, and thank you. It's good to be back, although it was hard to leave the house tonight."

Catherine smiled sympathetically, "Yeah, the first time away is always hard. Don't worry though, I am sure that Nick will be able to handle it. How is he doing?"

"Nick? He is great. We're both tired, but that is understandable I guess."

"That is good to hear, but that isn't the "he" I was asking about." Catherine said with a chuckle.

"Oh! _He_ is absolutely perfect, growing like crazy, surprising me everyday, he is…I can't even think of words to describe how much I love him, how much he means to me."

Catherine smiled again, she was happy to see that Sara was so happy. "Well, I am glad to hear it. I have to go and check on some things with Hodges, but I want to see pictures later."

"You can count on it! I have tons!"

Sara pulled out her cell phone once Catherine had left the room. She hadn't been gone long, but she had to check in. The phone rang twice before it was answered.

"Hello?"

"How is he?"

"Well, hello to you too darlin'." Nick drawled.

"Hi. How is he?"

"Calm down honey. You've only been gone for a half an hour. He is fine. He is still sleeping, just the way that you left him. Don't worry. I can handle it. We'll be fine."

"I know. I just miss him you know. I haven't been away from him like this before."

"I know but it's okay. Everything is under control. I will call you when he wakes up okay?"

She smiled into the phone, happy that he understood and wasn't thinking that she was crazy. "Okay.

"I love you."

"I love you too. Kiss him for me."

"I will."

With that, Sara hung up the phone. She and Nick had been married for almost 3 years now. Four months ago, she gave birth to their first child. Nick and Sara Stokes welcomed Andrew William Stokes into the world, 7 pounds 8 ounces, 19 inches long. Tonight was her first shift back from her maternity leave, and being away from her son was killing her. The only thing that was keeping her somewhat sane was knowing that Nick was home with him right now. She wasn't sure how she was going to feel when she would have to leave him at home with sitter.

Pulling the latest picture of her son from her pocket, Sara looked at it for a few minutes. Smiling to herself, she remembered when the picture was taken, well, sort of. Nick had come home from his shift to find Sara and Andrew asleep on the couch. Her long legs stretched out along the length of the couch as she cradled her son to her chest. The flash of the camera had woken her up. Nick argued that he just couldn't pass up the, "Kodak moment."

Sara placed the picture back in her pocket and rose from her chair. It was time for her to get to work. She exited the break room heading for Grissom's office.

* * *

As she entered his office, she found him feeding one of his many creatures. "Hey."

Grissom looked up from the aquarium, surprised by the voice he was hearing. "Hey Sara! How are you?"

She leaned against the door jamb, not wanting to come close to whatever new creature he had in the tank in front of him. "I am well, a little nervous about being away from the baby, but other then that I am well."

"Good to hear it."

"Do you have anything interesting for me tonight?" She silently prayed that she would be busy tonight in hopes that it would keep her mind off of everything else.

Her prayers were not answered, "No, actually, tonight seems to be a rather slow night. Catherine is finishing up a few things with her case from yesterday, you could see if she needs a hand. Greg is covering DNA tonight. Other then that, I guess you can just reacquaint yourself with the lab. Good to have you back."

Sara gave him a forced smile but then groaned inwardly as she walked away from his office. There weren't any cases to work on, but tonight was not going to be as easy as she had hoped.

* * *

She wandered around the lab trying to find something to do. She sat in the lab with Greg for quite a while catching up with him. Initially, Greg had been heartbroken he found out about Nick and Sara's relationship. He wanted her to be happy and after looking at all of her pictures and listening to her gush about her new son he knew that she was. She swung into the AV lab and talked to Archie for a few minutes and found Wendy in her print lab. She was so bored she even stopped by trace and talked to Hodges. Her next mission was to find Catherine again, she found her in the same place as before, the break room. To her dismay, Catherine had already closed her case. She looked up from her magazine as Sara walked into the room, "Picture time!"

Sara smiled as she sat down at the table and pulled out all of the pictures that she had with her. Talking to all the boys was one thing, but talking to Catherine about it all was completely different. Being a mother herself, Catherine appreciated it in a very different way. The two had become closer since Andrew had been born. They had patched up their differenced years ago, but now having motherhood in common made them that much tighter. Sara had often called Catherine for advice during the first few weeks of Andrew's life, and she was always there for her.

She sighed and sat back in her chair as Catherine studied the last few pictures of the baby boy. When she looked back up at Sara she found a frown on her face.

"What's wrong?"

"Nick told me that he would call me when Andrew woke up, and he should have by now. He needs to be fed."

Catherine could tell that Sara was reaching for her cell phone. She put a hand on her arm to stop her.

"Sara, stop worrying. I am sure that things are fine. Nick is a great father. They were perfectly fine together when we went out shopping a few weeks ago. It's okay."

"Yeah, I know. But that was only for two hours, this is a whole shift."

Catherine was about to speak when Greg interrupted them, "Hey Sara come here! You have to see this!"

"What is it Greg?"

"Just come and check this out!"

Sara stood up and followed Greg out of the break room. She was a little scared. Greg tended to make odd concoctions when he was left alone and bored in the DNA lab.

Greg had somehow managed to make a mask out of random lab equipment. Sara warned him how mad Grissom would be if he found out. Greg's only response was, "Well, that is why Grissom isn't going to find out."

* * *

She returned to the break room a few minutes later. Catherine was in the same spot that she had left her; however, she was no longer alone. She was holding something small that was wrapped up in a blue blanket and Nick was standing behind her looking over her shoulder.

He looked up and smiled at her as he heard her enter the room, "Someone missed his mommy and wanted to come and say hi."

Sara smiled as Catherine stood up and placed the infant in his mother's eager arms. She felt as if a giant weight had been lifted from her shoulders as she held her son to her chest. Five hours. Five hours had been the longest time that she had been away from her son in the past four months, well, 13 months if you counted her entire pregnancy. She sat on the couch as she whispered to him and peppered his head with kisses. Nick sat down next to her, his arm instinctively going around her shoulders, while Catherine quietly excused herself to leave the family alone.

Sara pressed her legs together and stretched Andrew out across her thighs. Tickling his small stomach she smiled when she noticed that Nick had dressed him in his, "Mommy's Little Scientist" t-shirt that Grissom had given them. She continued to play with her son while Nick spoke, "I called Warrick a few hours ago to check up on you. He said that everything here was really slow and that it was just torturing you. So, when he woke up about and hour ago and wouldn't go back to sleep, I figured I would bring him down here for a little midnight visit. It will probably mess up his sleeping schedule, but I figured you wouldn't mind."

"No. Thank you for bringing him."

"Anything for you babe." He smiled as he pressed a kiss to his wife's forehead.

"Did he eat?"

"No, he wouldn't take the bottle. Personally, I don't really blame him."

Sara chuckled at her husband, but also gave him a good slap on the arm before grabbing her son's blanket to cover herself as she unbuttoned her top. As Andrew latched onto her breast, she leaned back into Nick's embrace, feeling more relaxed then she had all day. They sat there in a content silence as Andrew nursed. When Nick looked over she saw a smile spread across his wife's face.

"What?"

"I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"I never thought that I would be nursing my son in the lab break room."

Nick chuckled, "I guess there is a first time for everything."

Andrew soon finished eating; Sara expertly buttoned her shirt back up while Nick grabbed the burp rag from the diaper bag. She positioned him on the shoulder with ease and began patting his back. Sara hummed quietly to him while Nick sat quietly next to her, occasionally playing with a stray lock of her hair.

The sound of someone clearing their throat broke the family's comfortable moment. "I am sorry to interrupt, but I heard that my 'nephew' was paying a visit." Sara and Nick both looked up to see Grissom standing in the doorway. Not only did Andrew have all of his aunts and uncles from Nick's side of the family, but he had his "aunts" and "uncles" from the lab as well. He was going to grow up one loved yet spoiled little boy.

Sara reluctantly let her son out of her grasp. She hadn't seen him in five hours, but no one in the lab had seen him in a few weeks. She enjoyed seeing Grissom interact with her son. It brought out a side of him like nothing else could. Apparently, word had gotten around that the newest member of the Stokes family was visiting because soon the entire team had gathered in the break room to see how much the boy had grown.

"Pictures don't do him justice Sara." Though she had held him briefly when he first arrived, Andrew was now back in the arms of his "aunt" Catherine. "He is beautiful. He becomes more handsome like his daddy every time I see him."

Sara smiled and looked at her husband, "Yeah, I don't want to think about the trouble that we will be in when he grows up, especially if he gets his father's charm." Nick smiled at his wife before kissing her soundly on the lips.

Warrick laughed as he looked at the couple, "Yep. You guys are screwed."

"Well, I hate to break up our little reunion here, but I think that it's time we all get back to work, not that there is much to be done. Sara, take the rest of the night off. Go home, put your son to bed, we will see you tomorrow."

She thanked Grissom and the team said their goodbyes. Catherine handed a sleeping Andrew back to Sara while Nick adjusted the straps in the carrier so Sara could place him inside. Buckling him in, Sara tucked the blanket around him and pressed a kiss to his forehead. Nick grabbed his son's carrier with one hand and his wife's with the other. After a quick pit stop in the locker room to collect her things they were off to the parking lot.

Sara was happy to see that Nick had somehow managed to get a parking spot next to hers. She watched as Nick strapped the car seat into the back of his truck. He turned back to her, opening the driver's door of her truck so that she could climb in.

"I'll see you at home." He said before kissing her goodbye.

"Okay. I love you."

"I love too." He closed her door for her before walking around to the driver's side of his own. Starting up the engine he blew her a kiss before backing out of the parking space. She smiled to herself as she started up her own truck. It was good to be back at the lab, but now, it was even better to be going home to be with her two favorite boys.

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